Terrorists ‘Plotting To Bomb School Buses’

Pakistani police have issued a warning that terrorists are planning to plant magnetic bombs on school buses. Authorities in Islamabad issued a letter calling on schools to increase security and to check underneath buses and other vehicles.

It comes after seven Taliban gunmen burst into an army-run school in Peshawar and massacred more than 130 children and nine teachers on Tuesday.

The country’s army chief General Raheel Sharif and the head of the Inter-Services Intelligence agency (ISI) have flown to Afghanistan to meet Afghan President Ashraf Ghani to discuss tackling Taliban militants in both countries.

Army spokesman Major General Asim Saleem Bajwa said: “We are hoping that we will see strong action from the Afghan side in the coming days.”

Relations between the two countries have been tense, with both sides blaming the other for covertly supporting anti-government insurgents.

And as the country began three days of mourning in the wake of the school attack, Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif reinstated the death penalty in terrorism cases.

Government spokesman Mohiuddin Wan said: “It was decided that this moratorium should be lifted. The prime minister approved.

“Black warrants [execution orders] will be issued within a day or two.” Mr Sharif described the attack as a “national tragedy unleashed by savages”, adding: “These were my children. This is my loss. This is the nation’s loss.”

The moratorium on civilian executions had been in place since 2008. Despite the ban, hanging has remained a possible sentence in Pakistan and judges have continued to pass death sentences.